These articles are published in the Slough Town FC programme. The Rebels play in the Southern Premier - just seven leagues below the Premier League. I’ve been supporting Slough since the beginning of time despite now living in Brighton. After nearly 14 nomadic years we finally have a brand spanking new home in Slough.

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

HEDGEHOG, COWS AND ONE DETERMINED FOOTBALL CLUB

Printed in the Southern League Premier Division game v Hitchin Town on Saturday 22nd November 2014. We won 2-1 in front of 273 people.

This
is the story of a hedgehog, a few silly cows and a stubborn football
club who are refusing to be rolled over by what we are always sold as
progress.

But
this has become more than a tale of a football club near the bottom
of the footballing pyramid losing a ground they have called home not
long after they formed in 1865 and being shoved on the outskirts of
town like an unwanted guest. It is a tale that has managed to
galvanise local people and hit the national press thanks to a
hedgehog coming on the pitch and delaying the game - even giving the
lino a lesson in how not to pick up sharp objects.

Hitchin
Town' Top Field is one of those magical non league grounds that make
ground-hoppers go all weak at the knees – especially after you've
visited a few local boozers on the way from the train station. It's
surrounded by greenery and it's still called Top Field and not The
Really Fast Pick and Click Stadium of Speed or some other such
nonsense. However, the Canaries problem is that they rent the land
from the Hitchin Cow Commoners Trust. This is a charity 'for the
benefit of the community through the provision of facilities for
cricket, football or other sports or for other general purposes for
the benefit of the inhabitants of the town of Hitchin'. Unfortunately
somewhere along the way, the Common Cows seem to have misinterpreted
this as 'sticking our snouts in the trough to feather our own nests
whilst helping destroy what people love about living in Hitchin.'

What
the football club have been clever at doing is showing that this is
more than just about a football ground but about the wider community
and the economic effects of shoving another supermarket on a
greenfield site. On its own, the football club could never seriously
mount a campaign against these juggernauts who spout endless
corporate social responsibility guff, but at the end of the day is
there to stuff cash into shareholders pockets.

So
the Canaries organised a packed public meeting where the chair of the
Commoners Trust received so much grief she resigned.

Now
they are pulling out all the stops to encourage people to March on Saturday December 6 ahead of their game against Poole Town – which
they have made free to get in. The march will launch 'The Save HTFC
Fighting Fund' and the Hitchin manager is encouraging all their
players and youth teams to go along in a show of solidarity.

Club
secretary Roy Izzard said “This
isn’t just about the football club, it’s about saving Hitchin as
a town. We need everyone to support this cause. This is a very really
threat to the fabric of the town because even if people think Tesco
will pull out, there will be other supermarkets queuing up to take
over. We want the march to be a rallying cry to help save the town of
Hitchin as well as Hitchin Town. Even if you’ve never been to Top
Field before, if you care about the town we would urge you to come
along to both the march and the game because apathy is a real
threat.”

As
for the hedgehog, as Mr.Izzard pointed out; “If
he can help us to defeat the supermarket it would be amazing. He can
join our committee any time."

You
never know, you might see a cheeky little hedgehog sporting a
fetching yellow and green top marching with the good people of
Hitchin - that's if they can offer him enough slugs.